Decisions decisions...

[Variable]

Okay, so here's my conundrum. As most of you old fogeys remember, I've been an Arabic linguist for some time running now. In a few of my catch up posts I mentioned the different job offers I've been considering, and now I've arrived at an impasse. I'm in need of your sage advice. Lemme break it down for you.

First I get an offer from Titan corporation to keep working in the same facility I worked as a Marine, but on a different project. The pay, however, is about 4x my enlisted pay, and for this area, I'd live a very cozy life indeed. Titan requested a bundle of info and throughout multiple phone conversations seems very eager indeed to get me on board.

Then, I get an offer from SM Consulting in Linthicum Heights, MD, doing pathetically simple document translation at a lower security level (read: less interesting) than my previous job. However, they're offering six figures as a starting salary. Catch here is cost of living in Maryland is rediculous, and unless they're willing to foot some transition assistance I don't want to move my family at this time. They were initially fast about getting things done, then there was a three week lull during which I couldn't even talk to my contact at their office, but now he's come out of the shadows wanting some paperwork ASAP and for us to cinch the deal.

Then I just got another offer for yet another job in Maryland; they're putting together a package to present to the DIA (defense intelligence agency) and they want me on board as part of their sell-factor. What this means I'm pretty much on the ground floor of a new project, and infinately valuable to them as an asset.

Now I don't mind living down here in Augusta but I'd love to move back to Maryland. The market for my jobskill is such that eventually I'll have to move up there anyway. Here I can work of Titan or the NSA. There I can work for about four dozen government agencies and subcontractors, so the availability of work and the prospect of moving up in the world is greater. The only issue is that at the moment I desperately need a job, as we're just eeking by without my income; and the companies up there just haven't gotten the ball rolling as fast as Titan did. I can be working for Titan inside of two weeks now, we've got everything squared away but my offer contract.

So what's everyone's take on this? Work for Titan and do what I've been doing, or branch out and take a risk heading to Maryland and make bajillions of American cash-monies?

[Ghryphen]

Um, bajillions!!

[sh@rp]

Bajillions, I like that word.

But,"Catch here is cost of living in Maryland is rediculous" this is so true... I was down a buddy of mines, we took a walk to his friends house which happened to be a townhome.. They are selling for like 180k up to the highest i've noticed which was near me about 210k.. and that is for the SMALL cramped up townhomes :-/

But if you do decide to come up to Maryland, i'll look you up and come find you :P

[Gambit]

Are you saying that 4x your enlisted pay is <100k? Erk. :(

The ground floor deal, is that a startup company? Because if it is, they're risky. Generally high risk/high rewards thing. You're probably personally ok with risk, but you have to figure supporting your family in that equation.

The six-figure deal is nice, but if you hate it you'll be miserable. Guess that'd apply to Titan as well.

So, as you say, a conundrum.

What's the minimum time you'd feel comfortable working somewhere before quitting for something better? And who would be the best to do that to? It may be that your best plan is to work for Titan for a while, until you can line up something "perfect" in MD. If you pulled the short-term thing in MD, then it might lower your chances of improvement in that market.

Alternately, some show of good faith on the part of a potential employer is good, keeping in mind nothing is final until it's on paper and/or paid for. So the up-front transition assistance is not a bad request to make, though it may come with a "you need to work for us for X years or pay it back" clause.

BTW, I don't consider 200k unreasonable if your salary is 100k. Most mortage companies love to see the paycheck-to-mortgage ratio that high! Talking to an accountant can help you find ways to take a lot of tax bite out of that salary increase, too.

[Variable]

Well, the decision has been made. Titan called today with an honest to god offer while SMC is still scrambling to figure out what paperwork they want from me. So, less actual money, but techincally more money because cost of living is rediculously cheap down here. I should be working again in like two weeks, then Asha and I can do the wink-wink nudge-nudge "I have a secret" business together again.

I suppose I should take my resume offline, since as I typed this I got another email from another recruiter...

[Gambit]

Congrats! Just remember that it's not a permanent, life-changing decision you've made there, and you can move on later.


BTW, my nitpick: It's "ridiculous," not "rediculous." Think RIDicule. ;)

[Cerberus]

How important is money to you? You have to weigh it against relocating your family which can be very difficult on your spouse, plus you'll lose a support channel. I worked with some Titan Translators in Baghdad, those guys are getting 450 bucks a month which to them is a big money. I don't like Titan to be honest with ya.

[Variable]

Yeah, I don't like Titan much either, but it's the best gig in town if I don't want to relocate. And I DO need a job, post-haste. So I'll stick with them for a while and if things are lookin' up down the road, I might mosey on up to Maryland.

And I'm sad to say man...the guys we sent out to the front lines were the ones that couldn't hack their language skills working in our facility. The shops the good linguists worked in were like "no way, we're not letting X go...but Y is a retard, he can go"

Standard DLPT requirements are 2 Listening/ 2 Reading/ 1.5 Speaking...we sent a Marine out that was totally waived on all those (ie he failed) because our CO wanted to look totally cool deploying guys out of a support BN, but he didn't want to lose any output from our actual mission. In my whole time here, there have been two Marines sent forward where I've thought "The team that gets them is lucky."

And thank you Gambit ;)